Nice find, Tipsy! Similar, but a variation on the matchbook cover previously posted by DC... and we learn who the contractor was! Assuming that information wasn't also on the inside cover of DC's matchbook, that would suggest your's is from an earlier time, close to the opening date of The Tropics and perhaps printed before it opened.

"...Belden, 69, has worked in the hospitality industry since the 1960s, when he tended bar in college.
He managed resorts in Hawaii and Australia before he moved to the Daytona Beach area in the early 1970s to work for the late hotelier Tom Staed. Belden managed the Beachcomber and Treasure Island hotels, which were then part of Staed’s company, Ocean Eleven Resorts...."

Under a new concept, oh well, but it's better than a tear down. And with a name like "Mango Cove", maybe they will even keep that awesome mural...

This thread is another great example of united TC research, it would be nice to see this place live on.

When I drove by the defunct Julian’s site today, the “For Sale” sign still says “Contract Pending.” There has yet been no activity at the site. The October 2013 newspaper article that Sven posted of a pending sale indicated a desire to complete that transaction within a month. It has only been a couple of months since then, and these transactions are often more complex than anticipated, so there’s probably no reason to yet be concerned. The buyer’s stated desire was to retain the basic Julian’s structure, but add a rooftop deck and beer garden, presumably to the flat-roofed portion of the building behind the A-frame. He may be exploring those proposed changes in advance with the City of Ormond Beach, notoriously tough on code compliance.

DeTiki and Tiki-Troll, who posted earlier about acquiring Julian’s Witco and other décor items, decided to part with one of the pair of Julian’s freestanding Tikis. I am the fortunate buyer. They intend to keep the other. So one will remain in Ormond Beach within a mile of Julian’s at their home, and the other will reside at my home bar in Flagler Beach, less than fifteen miles from Julian’s. Here are the pair of them, moments before they parted way…

DeTiki and Tiki-Troll kindly let me choose which one I wanted, so I took the one on the right. Here it is in its new home at the Blowfish Bar.

From the pirate mural on the wall, it is easy to identify this as an interior photo of Julian Lopez's first restaurant, The Tropics, which opened in early 1950. This is the only photo I've come across showing the interior after it opened. Too bad it's not in color.

This entire thread is so great. When I first started going to Julians 15 years ago, they told me Julian was a Cuban refugee and started out washing dishes at the Tropics. Thanks for all the research, news clips, etc. Brings back good memories of the tiki gatherings we had there.
_________________Where do you get those Hawaiian thing-a-ma-jigs? You know, those hula do-dads.